Hart County judge reprimanded

HARTWELL -- Hart County Probate Court Judge Bob Smith was reprimanded by the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission for inappropriate campaign activities on behalf of his son, a candidate for Chief Magistrate of the county.

His son, Joey Smith, placed fifth of seven candidates in the March special election for chief magistrate judge of Hart County.

Bob Smith was reprimanded publicly but the contents of the reprimand and other details of what happened will remain private, according to a report sent Tuesday from the commission to the state Supreme Court.

The brief report says only that Smith’s inappropriate campaigning activities were done in public and he had accepted responsibility for the actions. Bob Smith was out of the office Thursday afternoon and did not respond to a message left on his office phone.